May Day Door Knocker
The May Day tradition is to ring the doorbell, leave a bouquet of fresh flowers and run! Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been so fortunate. So I set out flowers out on my door myself.
A swag of fresh cut flowers that dries beautifully and lasts, adorns my front door. A front door swag, or door knocker, is actually very easy to create. Here’s how:
Materials
Some flowers and foliages don’t die, they dry! (See below- 'Varieties that Dry Nicely')
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Greens: 8 to10 stems total of 2 different greens from Varieties that Dry Nicely (Jill used seeded eucalyptus and bear grass.)
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·Flowers: 7 to 10 stems total of 3 different flowers from Varieties that Dry Nicely (Jill used burgundy spray roses, liatrice and purple statice.)
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5 medium sized rubberbands, plus 1 large rubberband from the newspaper
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1 decorative ribbon or raffia, approximately 20-inches in length
Directions
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Select approximately 4 to 5 stems of greenery that are approximtley16-inches in length and rubber band their ends together. (Jill used bear grass.)
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Select approximately 5 stems of flowers and cut them to approximately 14-inches in length. Rubber band their ends together. (Jill used liatrice.)
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Select 3 more varieties (some flowers and some greens) and cut one variety to approximately 12- to 10-inches in length; then cut the next variety to about 8-inches in length; finally cut the last variety about 6-inches in length. Rubber band each variety together. (Jill used eucalyptus, burgundy spray roses and purple seafoam statice.)
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Next, stack the flower and greens on top of each other according to their lenghts (the longest at the bottom and the shortest on top.)
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Rubberband all the varieties together with one large rubberband to make a generous May Day swag /door knocker.
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Finish the swag by covering the rubberbanded ends with decorative ribbon or raffia.
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Now hang the May Day Door Knocker on the front door and let it dry.
Varieties that Dry Nicely:
California grows all these flowers all year long!
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Bright pink roses
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Red roses
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Hydrangea
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Larkspur
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Liatris
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Marigolds
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Straw flower
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Safflower
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Yarrow
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Statice
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Zinnias
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Globe Amaranth
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Herbs: Rosemary, Mint, Oregano Parsley, Bay and Sage
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Greens: Lemon Leaf, Eucalyptus, Bear Grass, CaliforniaPepper Berries
My best,